Isafjørd : "Hjartastjaki"

This band from Iceland is comprised of dudes from Pain of Salvation and Solstafir , though I hope you did not come expecting prog metal. Instead, you are getting a droning ambiance of something that comes close to the Cure or Mogwai. The vocals do get more forceful on the first song, and things swell dynamically, but the pattern in follows has more of a graceful shimmer to it that could have come from "Bloodflowers". The second song glides off into more Pink Floyd territory. The emotive vocals add another color that is in left field from the Floydian vibes. There is great guitar work as well with an incredible tone. 

There songs in things shift and begin to go from post-rock to post-pop. There are a few verses whose melodies recall the more nuanced verses of "Wrecking Ball" by Miley Ray Cyrus. This is not to say it is devoid of rock, as it even goes into a more Juda Priest like metal riff at the climax of one song, though the vocals stay in a more emo place most of the time, their two voices work well together. Some of the electronic drum patterns, give a more Depeche Mode feel, though they never catch a dance groove. Some of the single note guitar melodies also remind me of Depeche Mode. The atmosphere always stays thick even when they are going into a more pop place. Thuis lingers on into "Kuldaro" . They sing in English on "Fjpord of Home" which is the one moment where they sound the most like Pain of Salvation.  

After that they get back on a more Pink Floyd sounding vibe. The vocals being in their native tongue, give a more folk quality than the smooth David Gilmore like vocal that would take their sound there. This provides a raw quality to the emotive belt.  Breezier Sigur Rios styled moments come., with the vocals going into a higher wail. The guitar solos are all pretty tasteful and add to the song.  The last song is more of a slow core- post rock thing, with well layered vocals creating a breezy chorus. I will round this one down to a 9, sure this is a great sounding album, but some of the songs work off too similar a vibe to say it's a perfect 10, but it one of the best things of this type I have heard in some time. The album drops December 2nd on Svart Records.

Pain of Salvation : "PANTHER"

This is not a huge change in sound for them despite electronic elements being more predominant on the opening track. They are not doing this in a way that conforms to a commercial sound . It defines progressive. They continue to not stand still and get comfortable with a sound. It is also less metal than the previous release. Daniel's voice sounds great. He knows how to serve the song . This can also be said about the instrumentation employed . There is no wanking. It's complex and simple at the time. There are aggressive elements with out being over metal. On the second song there is a heavier dynamic it swells into, this is counter balanced with a very organic melodic verse with a sight blues touch. This then contrasts the shift to a more futuristic sound on the verse of "Restless Boy" . The more intense chorus is somewhat Faith No More , but that seems to have always been an influence. It is more of a glitched out stacatto that once again is not overt metal , but heavier.

"Wait" is not a pop song but is is one of the more smoothly melodic and following song on the album. He still retains a rock edge to his voice. Very emotional but controlled Daniel shows he is one of the best singers in the game. "Keen to a Fault' falls more on the line of what your average prog listener wants from music, though with less shredding . They are without a doubt tremendous musicians. Not my favorite vocal melody on the album, feels like its following too closely. I might be nit picking but that is what I hear. The guitar playing makes up for it. "Fur' is just a banjo interlude, but then they turn back the clock with the title track that finds Daniel doing a Patton like white boy rock rap. Musically they way their are playing with electronics is interesting.

I like the lyrics to "Species" where he exclaims 'sometimes I hate my fucking species" . The abum ends with the 13 minute "Icon" . This is a "prog" band so not surprised. Not really a power ballad in the 80s sense of the world but a very dynamic ballad. Things do not get as intense as I like them until the final 3 minutes, which are pretty great. I will give this a 9.5 and see how it sits with me, Not their best album, but that is a high bar. It is better than the bulk of things calling themselves prog these days.,

the Top 10 Progressive Metal Albums of the Decade

The decade began before this blog was started , I can not just rely on sorting through previous reviews. I am just embedding video clips to support the reasoning for these albums to be listed as such, since I already did a best of the year list for each sub-genre. Progressive does not mean this is going to be a wank fest. While I do like a good guitar solo, if you are just here for pretentious shredding, you have come to the wrong place.  For stuff more along those lines I have separated out a seperate power metal list,. This might not be the most hipster of the lists that say Vice puts out, what matters is the fact; these are the albums I listened to the most .&Any ways here are the Top 10 Progressive metal l albums of the decade.







10- Bask- "III"



 






9-Liturgy -- "the Ark Work" 2015





 





8-Baroness- "Gold & Grey" 2019





 





7-Cynic- "Kindly Bent to Free Us " 2014





 






6-Voices- " Frightened" 2018




 





5-Mastodon- "Emperor of Sand "




 






4- Igorrr - 'Savage Sinusoid - 2017












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  3- Sigh- "Scenes From Hell" 2010




 






2- Voivod- " Target Earth" 2013







 







 1- Pain of Salvation- "Road Salt One" 2010

Pain of Salvation : "In the Passing Light of Day"

I loved "Scarsick" the album that served as my introduction to the band and think "Road Salt One" is brilliant. I haven't really been wow'ed by anything since, but gave their last album a passing listen if that. Prog rock in it's most conventional form is no longer my bread and butter like it used to be, I think because their idea of heavy and mine never align and the cheese filled wanking seem to be the mission of the day. That is not really the case with these guys, and while a ten minute song opening the album feels over indulgent to me the song is not half bad despite the heavy drama on the spoken word section. I think their song writing is more focused on "Tongue of God". This project's secret weapon remains Daniel Gildenlow 's incredible pipes that continue to make him one of the most under rated singers to step up to a microphone and on a song like "Meaningless" prove that where the other metal divas get it wrong is not trying to be operatic rather than letting the soul bleed through in the vocal booth.

The ballad "Silent Gold" is well done, but just doesn't resonate with me personally. There is a more Faith No More like rock vibe to " Full Throttle Tribe". It works of a tense groove and intense yet quirky vocals hopping along the syncopation. While they do this better than any other band this kind of thing stopped being my thing in the late 90s, but I can appreciate the talent behind this song. "Reasons" combined soul with the more proggy math to find the magic formula that shows what they do best. The way this song hits it is clear they are not oblivious that bands like their fellow Swedes in Meshuggah exist. They set the solo to "Angels of Broken Things" on fire and add more dynamic depth to the song, so if you are wondering when and how to use guitar solos reference this song.

Thanks to their understanding of dynamics, a song that starts off more middle of the road like "the Taming of a Beast" can really roar to life in a way that doesn't sound contrived. "If This is the End" feels like a more updated version of something that could have been on "Road Salt One" with a more Mr. Bungle like build. There is a very warm and organic feeling to the song. I brace myself for the 15 minute title track that closes the album, as I have developed a distaste for songs of this length so they better sell me on the fact that each minute is being used wisely. I like the darker tone established at the beginning. They don't go in the direction I expected with this , but it is still pretty fluid even up to the ten minute mark. As they passed the 11 minute mark I began to wonder how much longer they could keep it up without going back to the chorus again.They bring it back way down in the final three minutes. This is not their best album, but it is better than what most of the so called prog rock bands are putting out these days so I will give it a 9 for now. br />
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